woodworking is making me dyslexic

[Mike in Mystic]

Ok, so I've been doing this woodworking gig about 4 years - seriously for maybe 2. I've had a lot of "big iron" in my shop for maybe 1.5 years (Unisaw, jointer, planer, etc. etc. etc.). So, I am starting to get a bit more confident in my woodworking abilities. That's not to say I don't think I suck big time, relatively, but I no longer feel like a total newb in this joint.

That is, until I do things like I did on my current project.

I'm building a simple lingerie dresser for my son's nursery. I'm still not too keen on designing stuff myself, so I purchased some plans. The plans are pretty straightforward, although they include joinery approaches I'm not used to, but I figure that's how I will learn, so I go along with it as instructed. Everything's going hunky-dory, if a bit slowly (it's tough to make progress in 2 hour spurts, but that's the life of a new first-time parent). That's when I had one of those moments tonight. You know what I mean, right? An "OH F$$K, WHAT DID I DO" moment.

You see, this dress has frame and panel sides. There are two panels for each side, one small panel on top and a larger panel on bottom. Well, that's according to the plans. On MY dresser, there will be a small one on top of the RIGHT side and a small one on bottom of the LEFT side. DOH!!!! And there's nothing I can do now, except start over (which I really don't have time to do, nor the wood/$$ etc. either).

I honestly wonder if woodworking is making me forget what right and left are.

So, do you think SWMBO will notice? I honestly doubt it, at least not right away. That doesn't make me feel much better though.

Sigh.

Mike

[Larry Jaques]

On Thu, 27 Nov 2003 03:36:54 GMT, "Mike in Mystic" brought forth from the murky depths:

As a dad, you have a very complex and, er...lively life planned for your son if you're getting him interested in wearing lingerie _this_ early.

Happy Turkey Day to all.

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[RWM]

Don't worry about it. Everyone makes the same types of mistakes when starting out. My first suggestion is to develop a making system that you use every time. It has to become routine and the thought process will force you think about right/left side, inside/outside, and top/bottom.

The second suggestion is not to do anything important when you are in a rush. This was harder for me to learn, but I had the same type of transition mistakes. I would rush to get things done in my one hour period when the kids were napping on weekends and would hate the results. Now if I am tight on time I do shop maintenance. Things like chisel/plane iron sharpening, or checking the alignment of the equipment.

I was really happy when I realized that those two changes were making a huge difference in my finished projects.

Bob McBreen

[RKON]

Mike:

How about calling it a dresser instead of Lingerie Dresser? More fitting for a young boy?

Just put it in the corner of the room and nobody will notice.

Rich

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Lingerie & Son in the same sentence? Let's just say you are making a cabinet.

Who, me? No, never had one Yep, I've heard about them from others though so I guess it can happen. Nope, not me though. I think a friend had one though; yeah, it was a friend of mine, not me.

Easy to fix. Visually, the small over large is more appealing. Put the other end up against a wall. Or paint it different bright colors on each panel and people will assume it should be that way.

Nah, you just got it out of the way early. It is not a mater of "if" someone will make two lefts doors, or identical parts that should be mirror image, the is just "when" you will do it. I've made things in multiples a few times, lke four chairs. 4 chairs = 20 legs with different patterns for the cross members. . I'll cut 21 or 22.

Right now I'm making trivets for Christmas gifts. Each requires 10 cuts (in increasing depth) making 30 passes on the router table. Of the 22 blanks I started with 19 made it. Two were lost on the first pass where the patter is esablished, but I still managed to lose another when I used the wrong sub-fence.

This is how you find out how much your wife loves you. Ed [e-mail]

[Jimbo]

(snip) I work on the principle that if there isn't such a moment in any project, then it was either too easy or I simply missed the mistake :) But seriously, as time goes on, these moments become fewer and fewer and your confidence and ability grows. Good luck!

Jimbo

[Norman D. Crow]

Ed, we understand dyslexic, but are you making 5-legged chairs?

Nahmie

Happy Thanksgiving!

[WORSS]

Mike,

Welcome to Marketing 101. It is called a "feature" not a mistake. Who ever said it had to be symmetrical? Then it would be like everyone's elses.

Bill

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Wow, I was tired when I typed that but I didn't think I was THAT tired. Ed

[Silvan]

Make finger joints and get the last two pieces reversed so that one of the sides of the box will only fit if you cut two of them in half and flip them over, or else skew the entire box and plane, plane, plane. (DAMHIKT...)

[Silvan]

Excuses, excuses... You slipped, that's all. You're really an alien, and you just revealed yourself, buddy. We're onto you! The fifth leg of the chair is to hold up your plrflwxzyl.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Well, it is rather long and needs support when enlarged! Ed